New Pic!!

April 2013 New Missionaries to Osorno, Chile

This picture was posted recently to the mission blog. 

Check it out http://chileosornomission-rappleye.blogspot.com/2013/07/new-arrivals-april-2013.html.

Love seeing pictures of my beautiful girl!!!

My First Cambio!!!!!

Family!!! :)

My first cambio!!!!! Holy cow, it is a lot of work to swap all the missionaries every six weeks haha. I have no idea how President and the office does it. I have a feeling my appreciation for them is going to increase this cambio because... they are ALL in my ward here in Osorno! My district consists of the assistants to the President, his secretaries, my district leader and his companion that both work in the office tambien, and my new compañera Hna. Howell. Haha not sure what we did to be in a district like that, but I think its safe to say I´ll learn a lot! ;) haha. President is also in our ward, and our bishop is Elder Goodman that is here serving a mission wife his wife (matrimonio missionaries). Our house is close to the mission home, and we live with two other hermanas that are both from Peru. Our house is huge, but a poco of a disaster because during cambios and such lots of hermanas come and stay in our house. It is unofficially called the ¨mission home of the hermanas.¨haha So basically yeah... I am in the middle of everything here in Osorno! :) Oh, and just fyi... being close to the office means that I can receive letters SUPER quickly right now, so if anyone feels like writing me a letter, go for it ;)

I have only been here for three days, but I have already learned lots! This sector is a lot different that my sector in Valdivia. It is super quico or rich haha, and some of the houses are gigante!! Our mamita is a recent convert and she and her family live in a HUGE house and have a lady that cooks for them (and us) food that is super yummy, and super healthy, without tons of pan! Yay! I just might actually lose a little bit of the weight that I gained in Valdivia haha. But even though this area is more wealthy. the people I have met so far are seriously so great! WE have had a few lessons with menos activos, miembros, and investigators and I am so surprised at how willing they are to learn and their dedication to keep their commitments!!! Obviously we are going to have our own struggles, but so far I am so pleased to teach people that are progressing and keeping their commitments :) Everyone says this sector is of "oro" and I am super super excited to work here! :)

It hasn't been without its desafios though haha. Hna. Howell has only been here for six weeks and we both just finished our training, which means to some degree we have no idea what we are doing haha. I´ll admit I was a bit frustrated the first day or so because she doesn't know where a lot of things are (and I don't either yet), and we are both used to doings things a little bit differently. We both have very distinct manners of studying and planning and teaching and the first couple days were a little rough. But I was praying super hard that we could have unity and as soon as I started to feel frustrated I decided... No! I am going to be happy and we are going to work together and it is going to work out! :) So I humbled myself a bit (or a lot haha), prayed really hard, and yesterday was so awesome!! :) We contacted people and had four really awesome lessons and I learned that I actually love teaching with her. She talks a little more slowly (something I need to work on) and it has been helping me so much in the lessons! Not only do people understand us better, but we also give ourselves more time to listen to their concerns, listen to the Spirit, and then respond in a manner that is best for them. It is such a great feeling! I know we still have lots of work to do in our companionship, but she is seriously so great and her desire to serve and focus on our purpose and help these people is so honest and sincere and I have already learned tons from her! :) Also, we never speak Ingles because she wants to work on her Spanish and I do too, so I can definitely feel that I am going to improve my Spanish even more with her. I am super excited for this cambio! :)

Okay, not much time but in case you didn't know... I love you all SO MUCH!!! I am so glad you all are my family! I want you all to know that I know this church is true and that we have the great responsibility to share it with everyone. I am so excited to work here in Osorno! Even though its freezing haha. Love you all, more next week, and BE GOOD because ETERNAL LIFE IS WAITING!!!! :)

Hna. Teeples

OTRAS: Thanks to the VanWies and adorable Clara Reese for their letters!!!! I absolutely loved them and they were so sweet and kind!!! I am super excited to try out that recipe Clara! You all are awesome and thanks for the support! :)

Happiness Comes Through the Savior :o)

Familia!!!! :) 

Okay, no tengo nada de tiempo so I am going to be really fast haha. We have a zone activity and we are going to the beach and anyway no time haha. BUT... lots to say! so fast :)

First, I am so glad you all had to much fun with the family last week! S excited for sweet little Emma that is baptized now. Woot woot!!1 Love you, sweet girl :) Also glad you got to see Grandma T and the rest! Will you tell Gram that I love her and hope everything is going well and will email her next week when I have a bit more time? Also, Mom to clear up your doubts... I LOVE hearing about everything that is going on at home! Seriously is my favorite :) I love your animos and hearing all the stories so keep it coming!haha.

Okay, so lots of changes this week. Cambios like I told ya and guess what.... your Chilean is going to Osorno!! Haha pretty crazy, but I am already heading to my second area. It is crazy! I leave Wednesday and my new campañera is a gringa from my group in the MTC haha, so we both just finished our training and are going to be learning how to be ¨normal¨missionaries together. Haha should be an adventure :) But I know her a little bit and she is super funny and sweet, so I am excited :) Also, it will be fun to be close to the mission home for a bit too and close to the volcano woot woot! Also, pretty sure my new Pday is Saturday so just a heads up... you should write me before then ;)

Well since I am leaving, that means that I have to say goodbye to all my people here in Valdivia.... ahhhhh!!! It is so crazy! I love these people so much and it is going to be hard to leave. Yesterday in the ward when I got up to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting at the request of the bishop, I felt like King Benjamin giving his final words to his people before he died. Basically I wanted to call them all to repentance and remind them to follow Christ ALWAYS because I want to see them in the Celestial Kingdom, but.... I decided to share my testimony and tell them how much I loved them instead ;) haha I seriously have loved this ward so much! The bishop and his family, my Mamita, all the women that went on visits with us, Francisa (who sadly is in Santiago this week :( :( ), our ward mission leader... just everyone! My first family in Chile! Not to mention our investigators.... William, Morelia y Coni, Paulina, this new women America who is AMAZING and going to get baptized I just know, and lots of others! It is sad to leave and not be able to see their progress anymore, but standing up in church yesterday and looking out at everyone I felt super strong that I am leaving this area better than I found it and that I helped strengthen the faith of some while I was here and that is what I wanted to do anyway :) Plus, not to mention all the love and hugs and ¨pass by my house before you leave!!!!¨¨ that I got yesterday haha. Talk about feeling loved! Man, I just love these people :)

Okay, seriously no time but just wanted to say that with all these changes I have been thinking lots about happiness and how I want to always be happy and positive in the mission and how the biggest way we all can feel happiness is through Jesus Christ because He is the ultimate source of gozo. And when we feel his love it just feels us up and we have the desires to come unto Him and do what He would have us do. I love 1 Nep 11:21-23 that talks about how the fruit of the tree is the love of God, and Alma 31:41-43  that talks about how we can develop this love and nourish the fruit through patience, faith, and diligence. Sorry I cant say more about it haha but just remember that the ultimate source of happiness is the LOVE OF GOD and thus we need to nourish our own love of God by obedience and service and all that jazz! :)

I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!!! Cant wait to read your emails! I love this work, I love my Father in Heaven, I know I am supposed to go to Osorno, I know this church is true, and I AM HAPPY because eternal life is waiting!!!! :) 

Your Chilean,

Hna. Teeples 

A Few More Pics!!!

Birthday Celebrations!

The Zone :o)

Hna. Yepez's trainer - Three generations!

Proudly Representing!!!

Hna. Yepez & their Mamita

Amazing Tree! Amazing Missionary!!!

My Last Week of Training!!!

7-8-2013
Familia!!! :)

Holy cow, so I have no idea how, but this is my final week of my training! We have cambios the next week and it is possible that Hna. Yepez and I will still be compañeras but it is more likely that one of us is going to go (and that I might train someone......) and AHHHHH!!!!! It is just crazy! I can´t believe it haha. These months have flown by and I seriously feel like the mission is going to be over before I know it! SCARY. haha. But anyway... this week!!! Tons happened :)

First off... progress con Morelia! :) So right now she is our biggest focus because she has a fecha and we have been working really hard with her and her daughter Connie too. Connie is 18 and started listening to the lessons a little after we started teaching Morelia so right now we are trying to catch her up on everything and their schedules are super different right now so this week we had lessons with them at different times. Anyway. we love them so much and love talking to them and stuff but for some reason we have been having a lot of trouble teaching them lately. It was like we were talking about things not related to the gospel more than the gospel and the Spirit wasn't as strong in the lessons and they weren't keeping their commitments and just aghhh... it was like we could literally feel Satan trying to stop their progress on all sides! And it was weird because we are having so much success in our lessons with other people! It hit a low point on Wednesday this week when we left their house after helping Connie and talking to her about her problems, but didn't really teach anything. And as soon as we left it hit me super clearly that if we kept going in this direction, Morrelia would not reach her baptism goal. Hna. Yepez and I talked about it and prayed that night and I remember feeling horrible and just crying and crying. Seriously horrible. I realized that I wasn't fulfilling my purpose as a missionary and if we didn't change, these two people that we love so much weren't going to come unto Christ. And I didn't want to leave feeling that way. The feeling continued during study the next day. Suffice if to say, we both learned a LOT about the Atonement in those short hours. But Hna. Yepez helped me realize that after we have recognized our wrongs and go through that repentance process, it is over. It is done! Christ paid the price for our sins and our job after we repent is to look forward with hope and change. I seriously felt like Alma the Younger when he describes his despair and then his joy after the Atonement haha. Although it was hard, I am so grateful for that lesson I learned! 

Connie &  Hna. Yepez

And after that.... things got better :) That day we had an AMAZING lesson with Connie, really focusing on her and learned so much about her beliefs and everything and holy cow, she has such an open heart and faith and desire to draw close to Christ. I am so excited for her! Also, we had a better lesson with Morelia on Saturday  and she attended church yesterday!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot woot!!!! :) There is still lots to improve and I can still feel Satan trying to make us fail...  but I know that we are back on the right track now and we WILL win! :)

Speaking of church, yesterday was a day of miracles! :) We had been fasting for people to attend church again and we woke up to SUN! You have to understand there is NEVER sun on Sundays haha and it is usually super cold and people use that as an excuse. Well, yesterday there was sun and there were tons of people at church, including Morelia! And it was fast Sunday and I love hearing their testimonies in this ward and seeing their progress... I always cry haha. I sat there in Sacrament Meeting with Morelia on one side and Francisca on the other and just thought ¨Holy cow... so many changes in the lives of people here! It is amazing!¨:) I know we haven't had a baptism yet, but we have seriously seen the lives of people change so much members and nonmembers and it helped me realize that we are making a difference :) I seriously love this ward and these people so much! 

Also, we had intercambios with the herman leaders this week and I learned lots! First, I had to lead the sector again and I am always amazed at how much I learn doing that haha. Its like you are so much more aware of everything when you are in charge, and I felt so much LOVE for the people we taught. It was also a nice surprise that I can talk and understand just about as much Spanish as Hna. Foster, who is finishing up her mission this next week. Haha I guess I CAN speak Spanish ;) I also learned so much talking to her about her regrets and things from the mission and the biggest one was our relationships with the investigators. She had an investigator that she was best friends with but she didn't get baptized and when Hna Foster left things went downhill. And she told me about all the regret she had for a long time. I just remember thinking of Morelia and how I DO NOT want to feel that way. I have been studying a lot about my purpose this week and have realized that I am here to PREACH about CHRIST, not just be friends with the people. And if I am not doing that, I am not fulfilling my purpose. After this week and that horrible day I think I can say lesson learned! I am a missionary of Christ and preaching the gospel with help these people more than anything else I can do :)

Sorry so long today haha, but to finish real fast I just wanted to share a scripture that I love. Helaman 15:7-8. The steps to conversion! :) It all begins with knowledge, then faith in Christ and then repentance, change of heart and walking in faith until the end! I love the talk of Ann M Dibb about Ï know it. I live it. I love it.¨ I know that once as we learn about the gospel and then APPLY IT, our hearts change and we can truly say that we love the gospel. I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!! :) I am so eternally grateful for my Savior and His Atonement and sacrifice for me. I need it. I have so many things to work on, but I know through Him I can change and become better and more converted unto the Lord. I have soooo much still to do in the mission, but I am so grateful for the opportunity to repent and mejorar cada dia. Just like it says in D&C 50:40-41.... I know I am his ¨little child¨and He wont ever leave me solo if I just come unto Him. I love this gospel and I love this mission! I am a representative of Jesus Christ and I am going to help others feel this happiness and joy that I feel because of my Savior! :)

I love you all family!!!! It sounds like from last week that you all are doing great! Mom that camp was awesome, Dad that work is great (and i always LOVE your emails and thoughts! thanks you so much dad :) and that the kiddies are great! Cant wait to read this weeks emails as usual. Tell them all hello and that I miss and love them so much! I hope you all remember every day how much we are blessed to have this gospel and how much peace we have because of our Savior. Without Him, we are nothing! Keep choosing the right and look for opportunities to share the gospel in little ways everyday. I love you all SO MUCH, so be good because ETERNAL LIFE IS WAITING!!!! :)

Your Chilena,

Hna. Teeples

PS: Funny story for the week... the elders brought an investigator to church yesterday that was a little (or maybe a lot) weird and in THE MIDDLE of sacrament meeting, he came up to me and shook my hand and tried to kiss me on the cheek (that's how they greet each other here but we cant as missionaries) and when I wouldn't let him he got mad and went back to sit with the elders. Bahaha. The elders said after the meeting he just wanted to ¨go talk with the sisters!¨ Bahaha the elders felt so bad. Oh the people you met in the mission! 

The Blessings of Fasting

7-01-2013
Familia!!!

Holy cow, can you believe it is July already??? I can´t! Haha. It is crazy that I have been here in Chile for two months! Madness haha :) And let me tell you it is the coldest July I have ever experienced ;) 

Okay, so this week! Crazy, as usual haha. We started out the week kinda of rough, but it turned out alright :) We were trying really hard to focus on getting people to church this week because that has been our biggest difficulty so far... and without going to church, no one can get baptized, so... yeah haha. It has been kind of rough. There are TONS of menos activos here in Chile so half of the work we do is trying to reactivate them, plus our investigators that we want to come to church. Anyway, we decided to fast this week for people to come to church, specifically Morelia. Because on Tuesday, a miracle happened with her!! So we have been teaching her and whatnot and she knows the church is true, she just hasn't accepted a date yet because she didn't feel ready and was afraid of failing. Well... Tuesday we passed by her house to she how she was doing (she has been looking for work these past couple weeks and has been super busy with that) and we were talking to her about her interview that day and whatnot. Then, right out of the blue she said, Öh, and I am going to be baptized on July 13.¨ Just like that!! Haha we about choked! We asked her what happened and she explained that God has been fulfilling His promises and so she decided it was time she fulfilled hers too. MIRACLE!!!!! Holy cow, we were so excited!!  Sadly, she didn't attend church and so her fecha is actually the 27 of July. But she WILL attend church! just pray for her :)

ANYWAY.... so were fasting to get her to come to church, and also other investigators and menos activoes we had been working with. Well Sunday rolled around and we hadn't been able to have another lesson with Morelia because she has been so busy with her entrevistas and we couldn't get a hold of her to fijar una cita. Just after she had committed to baptism too! Oh man, I don't need to tell you how sad it was Sunday morning when once again we couldn't get a hold of her to come to church. Suffice it to say it was a bit rough and I think it shook my faith a bit. But that morning I was studying so hard, focusing so hard on having faith, faith, faith and doubting nothing. I felt like our fast had been for nothing and I didn't understand if it was something we had done wrong or if it was just her using her agency. But... we went to church as usual, and although she wasn't there, about 5 other menos activos that we have been working with were :) What a tender mercy from the Lord! Morelia might not have been there, but others were, and THAT was what our fast was for :)

We also had a couple AMAZING lessons this week with a couple new investigators. One is named America (legit, right?) and she is basically a dry Mormon. Holy cow, I am so excited to teach her again! Also, there is Janet and her daughter Paulina and we had an incredible lesson with them and Francisca yesterday. The Spirit was so strong and Janet and Paulina are keeping there compromisos and reading and were so great for Francisca! We talked about the Plan of Salvation and as I was bearing my testimony to them, I could just see Janet´s eyes shining as she looked at me and I knew she knew it was true. And then, all of the sudden Francisca started to cry and told them about the good feeling she had when she remembered these things.... and this is someone who has been inactive for years! Oh my goodness, it is so incredible to see how her testimony grows every time we goes with us to a lesson!!! She is progressing so much! And Janet and Paulina are seriously amazing. So excited for them! 

Also, we planned an awesome activity this week about the historia familiar with the ward to help`them get their names and stuff to go to the temple in August. Not a ton of people came, but a few did and it was awesome to help them. Hna. Martini, the family history hermana, was there helping us too and her passion for the work is incredible. There family history trees aren't like ours in the US... they basically have to start from scratch to find the information about their ancestors and put in the computer and then have it to do work in the temple. But they are all so excited, especially Francisca! The spirit of family history work is seriously incredible and I cant wait to do more with it later :)

Okay, sorry this email it everywhere! haha. But I just wanted to thank you Mom for your faith. It is seriously such an example to me. Yesterday when I was struggling before church, I just kept thinking about all the times I know you have prayed for me and I have seen miracles in my life because of YOUR prayers. For example... the fleas haha. We had them that one week but after that, hardly never. And I know it is because you say every week that you are praying for us :) And I just kept thinking... if Heavenly Father can answer Mom´s prayers about something as simple as fleas, He can answer mine and help others get to church. And He did :) You are such an incredible example to me of faith Mom, and I love you so much!!! We have talked to so many mothers and daughters here that have problems, and my compañera tambien has shared experiences with me about her and her mom and how it was rough. But every time I talk about you I always say....¨My mom is my best friend, and my hero and an angel and I want to be just like her!¨ And you seriously are :) I am so eternally grateful to have you as a Mom and for your sweet, loving example and everything you do for us kids. You are amazing! And I hope you LOVED camp and survived the bears and squealing girls and didn't die of a stress attack! haha :) I love you so much and remember that I am always cheering you on and praying for you and Dad and the kiddies everyday :)

Okay, got to end real fast, but pictures next week! Oh, and could you send my your recipe for cookies and brownies and the oatmeal chocolate chips cookies recipe too?? Haha that would be great! Also, I just wanted to share 2 Nefi 27:23.... Heavenly Father is a God of miracles. We just need faith :) Haha I am learning everyday to have more faith, and you all should too!! I love you all and miss you and feel SO BLESSED everyday to have such an amazing family! Have a great week! Choose the right, read your scriptures, pray, smile, and do your family history work and be missionaries because... eternal life is waiting!!! :)

LOVE YOU!

-Hna. Teeples

Locked In and Out!!

6-24-2013

Hola familia!!! :)

Okay, crazy week so here I go with the stories! First off, TY CONGRATS ON THE MISSION CALL!!!!!!! Dude, I am so excited for you! Wisconsin is going to LOVE you! Holy cow, I cant believe it! Haha Ty I am so proud of you! You are going to be such an AMAZING missionary!!! Bahhhh! Also, I loved hearing all about Alaska in your email! You should definitely email me again! I want to hear all about your adventures and mission prep and whatnot :) I only read quickly about where you are serving but I cant wait to read all about your experience. Oh heck, I wish we could talk! So you should email me :) Love you SO MUCH! Soo proud :´)

Okay, on to this week. Basically it was awesome! We FINALLY had  one of our awesome investigators in the church yesterday and Francisca, the menos activo that we are working with. And it was so amazing to see how interested and attentive she was to everything. She has been dealing with a lot of depression these past few years and tried to commit suicide earlier this week. Pretty sad :( But it has been amazing to see her testimony grow just in these past few days! She loves going to visit investigators with us and was asking all sorts of questions in church yesterday, and is super excited about our family history activity that we are going to have with the ward this week and wants to learn more and more about the gospel. It is so amazing to work with her! And yesterday we had a lesson with a new investigator who is PERFECT for Francisca! We cant wait to take her to a lesson with this new investigator :)

Also, I love my new district so much!! We got new zone leaders, who are in our district, (one is from AZ btw and went to Skyline! he is older, so i didn't know him but he is in AJ stake and lives down the street from Marlee Roberts haha. Elder Madsen. anyway its cool that we know lots of the same people) and we all just had s much animo and excitement to work in our meeting this week. It is awesome to feel the unity in our district and then see the results. We had awesome lessons this week and have such an awesome feeling about this week... it is going to be a week of miracles, I just know! :) Our poor leaders though... we put them through quite a lot this week haha. First, after our district meeting, Hna. Yepez and I ran to the bathroom and the elders thought we left, so they left without us and when we went to go leave we discovered that we were locked in the capilla!! Haha they locked us in! So we had to call them to have them come let us out... boy did they get a good laugh out of that! Then, two days later, we came back to our apartment after lunch with the Mamita and realized that we didn't have our keys.... haha so we had to call our leaders and again, this time telling them that we were locked OUT of a building. And yesterday, for the worldwide training meeting, we accidentally went to the wrong stake center haha. Third phone call... ¨¿Donde estan elderes?¨ Haha oh my goodness, the SHAME! We all got a good laugh out of all the experiences, but I promised myself that I would not cause problems for my district leader! (BRIAN... this is for you and all other district leaders our there! haha) And I may or may not have said in a bit of desperation... ¨No tenemos problemas!! Promesa!¨ Haha. We don't have problems!!! Haha Anyway, after that adventure of a week, Hna Yepez and I are on a quest to redeem ourselves ;) 

Speaking of worldwide mission training.... OH MY GOSH that meeting was incredible!!! I think Mom, you attended it right? Not sure who else did, but oh my goodness the spirit was so strong! It was amazing. I just felt so excited and pumped for the work after and so humbled to think that I am a servant of the Lord right now in this time. and the new Internet rules are kind crazy no? Haha not sure how I feel about all that, but it will be lots easier for sure to communicate with investigators. Just everything though... the talks, the videos, all the missionaries in the Marriott Center at BYU, the prophet, everything! I was so overwhelmed by how amazing it was :´). I know that this work is increasing rapidly and with the help of all the members working together, we are going to see miracles. We really are in the last days and the most important work we can all do is missionary work! People need this gospel!! Every time I hear the prophets and apostles speak, it is just amazing how strongly the spirit testifies.

I loved so many things about the meeting, but I especially loved the emphasis on the LOVE we need to have to do this work. It really all starts with the love we have as members and missionaries. They need to feel the Spirit in order to have a desire to change, and our purpose is to help them feel that spiritual atmosphere. And we can only testify in the way that they need and with the Spirit when we have that love for them! Because when we have love, we listen to their needs and Heavenly Father gives us His promise that we will be able to testify in a way that can touch their hearts, and thus help them feel the Spirit. And it all starts with our love for them. I love the pray of Alma in Alma 31:34-35.... the perfect example of a missionary prayer! Their souls really are precious and we can help them when we have that Christlike charity. That is my goal this week to have more love :)

Family, this gospel is true!! I just loved the videos yesterday that showed the kids growing up and preparing for missions. I cried and smiled as I thought of you kiddies preparing for missions! I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week! Mom, have a great time at Girls camp! Also, I am glad you are all safe from the fire! I love you all!!!!! Choose the right and be missionaries today! People need the gospel and eternal life is waiting! :)

Your Chilena,

Hna. Teeples